AceShowbiz - Liam Payne has called out tabloid bosses for taking comments about spending time apart from his son "out of context" and using his story for "click bait."

The "Strip That Down" hitmaker opened up about being separated from young Bear during Britain's first coronavirus lockdown in an interview with Tings magazine, revealing he and his ex, fellow singer Cheryl, had reached an agreement about the situation in the best interests of the three year old.

"(Lockdown was) the longest I haven't seen him (Bear) in his life," Liam said. "But we discussed from the start and for different reasons, me and Cheryl decided I should be away for a little bit, it's not unusual for me to be in and out of his life."

"He's a quiet and chill child," the pop star added. "He doesn't worry about things too much."

Liam's remarks quickly made the rounds online early on Friday (06Nov20), but he wasn't happy with one particular piece of media coverage from The Daily Mail.

He shared a screenshot of the offending article on Instagram on Friday afternoon, and wrote, "Usually I let these things slide but this is completely out of context..."

"I couldn't see my son because of the worldwide pandemic that is happening not because I had anything wrong with me like this headline hints at," he explained. "This interview was done during the first nationwide lockdown at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and I was discussing not being able to see my child which is a difficult time for any parent (sic)..."

Liam ended his missive by urging reporters to do their due diligence. "I wish sometimes these people would do the research and give context instead of painting people a certain way for click bait," he moaned.

The One Direction star, who split from Cheryl in 2018, was reunited with Bear once restrictions were eased, but the nation has since entered its second lockdown, which began on Thursday.